Kingdom Hearts: The Journey of Another
by IlleSilentum
Summary: The journey of another apprentice of Eraqus, who has lost his memories. This is the beginning of his story, as he and Terra, Aqua, and Ventus unearth truths of the past and hidden secrets in the present. Book I. Rated T for minor language. Sorry if summary is misleading, I am horrendous at summaries.
1. Prologue

**Hello. I am a new writer to FF, but I have had this idea in my head for years now. This story has currently five books being planned, but the 2nd-4th books will be crossovers. Also, this will be following an OC I created. This first book will take place in KH: BbS, and that idea of fourth apprentice to Eraqus is overused, but I will try to be as original as possible.**

 **Also, there will be pictures of OC's and original weapons that I hand-draw myself. I do use references for my drawings, so don't be surprised if something seems familiar.**

 **Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is owned by Tetsuya Nomura.**

* * *

 **Kingdom Hearts: The Journey of Another**

 _Prologue_

In a dead, desert like area, with what looked like pillars that rose from the ground in some areas, two people were speaking. One was a female, who seemed to be in her late teen years, looking both sad and angry. The other was a male, looking to be in his early thirties, who had a guilty and sad look on his face.

"You can't go! We'll need your help to restore the world. This damnable war has left very few of us left, and you're the only Master that survived. Are you really going to risk chaos ensuing over a new leader?!" the female yelled.

"...If that is the problem, then I will select three individuals who did well in the war, and test them to see if they, too, can become Masters," the male said.

"That still leaves the restoration of the world. Nearly everyone has more Darkness than Light, and without you we will never be able to restore the world," the female said.

"Do you remember those children we met? They are the ones that'll rebuild the world. Not you. Not me, but the children. And no, it won't be the same world we grew up in, but is that such a bad thing? If we were the ones to rebuild the world as it once was, it would slowly, but surely fall back into war. Understand?" the male asked.

The female nodded, "I understand." A pause, "...Why are you leaving, again?" she asked in a near whisper.

The male turned his head away while closing his eyes for a second. "You know why. I... I have no one left. After I brought you over to our side, everyone except those two stayed away from me, thinking, 'I bet she is only trying to use him to learn our secrets.' And don't you dare try and blame yourself," the male said, seeing the female bow her head in shame and guilt. "I made my decision, and I don't regret it one bit." The female smiled softly at that.

"Where was I? Oh, yeah. After you came it was only you, those two, and me. After a little while, we lost those two. And a little while after that, the war was over. I honestly have nothing left here. That's why I am leaving. That, and, well... I'm curious about what the new world will be like," he ended with a sad chuckle.

The male sighed. "I will need to find and set up a place to take the test. This place will also be where future Masters train apprentices, as well as protect the order of the new world. I'm going to try and place that thought into the would-be Masters. I want the generations to come to be protectors of the new world. To answer your question, though, I will leave directly after naming at least one new Master. I won't say any goodbyes, either. It's not like anyone will miss me," he said. He then began walking away, with one final thought, 'I truly am sorry... Caelus.'

As the now known Caelus watched the male walk away, she looked down, and thought sadly, 'That's not true. I'll miss you.'

* * *

A person with spiky, red hair in a black coat sneezed in the future.

* * *

 _Two weeks later_

The male from before walked out of a white, gold-rimmed building that had gold chains attached to its sides. He walked down the stairs and walked away.

"Waaiit!"

He turned around to see Caelus running towards him. He waited for her to catch up before speaking, "What is it you need, Caelus? I'm about to leave."

After catching her breath, she spoke, "I know you're about to leave, and I know nothing anyone says or does can persuade you to stay. I know all that! So... I was wondering i-if...," she stopped, looking nervous.

"If...?" the male said, pressing her to continue.

"I-I was wondering if I c-could come with y-you," she said, extremely nervous.

The male's eyes widened to dinner plates upon hearing this, before replying/shouting, "What?! Why do y- No! Do you even understand what you just asked? You will be leaving everyone behind! You will never see them again! And then there are all of the risks. Oh, god, the risks. Listen, no one, and I mean no one, has even tried to attempt this, which means no one knows what kind of side effects could occur. There is most likely a chance that you could lose your life! Or worse! I know that you know all this. So why? Why do you want to come, knowing that you will lose everything here one way or another?" he finished, panting, staring straight into her eyes.

Caelus looked towards the ground. Tears were starting to form in her eyes as he spoke. "Of course I know all that. But... But my reasons for leaving are the same, if not worse than yours!" she yelled while looking up. Tears were now cascading down her face. "Everyone here either distrusts or outright hates me! All because I was a former enemy. You're the only one left that doesn't give me the 'evil eye,' let alone likes me or is my friend. That's why I want to come with you, because I'd be all alone when you leave. Hell, I'd probably be treated like a pariah here. So please, let me come with you," she ended with a desperate voice. Her tears had stopped flowing, but you could clearly see the remnants of her crying.

The male had calmed down while she was talking and could be seen staring at the the ground sadly. When she finished talking, he spoke, "I had no idea, Caelus. I thought you had at least made a few friends here." He paused for a moment while thinking things through. 'If what she said is true, and I'm sure it is, then it would probably be best if she came with. But she has to have no doubts about leaving.'

"Are you absolutely, one hundred percent sure you want to come with me?" he asked. She nodded in reply, "Yes, I'm sure. To paraphrase you, 'No one will miss me,'" she said with a small smile.

* * *

Meanwhile in the future, a blonde teen in a black coat sneezed.

* * *

The male chuckled lightly at that. He then said, "Alright, you win. Since there are two of us here, we have enough energy to leave right now if we combine our powers." He then proceeded to draw a clock in the dirt. He stepped into the center and motioned for her to do the same. He then took one of her hands into his and channeled energy into his hand. Caelus followed in his step and channeled energy into her hand as well. The outline of the clock as well as the hands of the clock began to glow.

While that as happening, the male suddenly had a vision of the people naming the area he had the test at 'The Land of Departure.' After the vision ended he spoke, "You know, they're gonna name this place 'The Land of Departure.'" "Fitting. I like it," Caelus responded.

The male summoned three key-shaped weapons, two of which went onto the clock hands. "Are you ready?" he asked. Caelus nodded. "Summon yours as well," he said. Caelus then summoned a similar weapon to his in her free hand.

The clock hands began to move quickly, before a keyhole appeared above them. Seeing this, the male spoke, "On three, unlock it, or else it won't work, got it?" She nodded in reply. "One. Two. Three!" he shouted. They both pointed the weapons in their hands at the keyhole, and a beam of light shot out of both of their weapons and into the keyhole. They both had similar thoughts as everything went white, 'Goodbye... And good luck, everyone.'

* * *

Inside a room in a strangely shaped tower, we see an old man with a long, gray beard, wearing a blue robe and a blue hat, with yellow stars and a yellow crescent moon, sitting in a tall wooden chair at a wooden desk.

"Mickey! Come in here!" the old man shouted.

The door to the room opened and a short, mouse-like figure entered. He was wearing a gray shirt with a gray, short-sleeved jacket with light silver edges, gray pants, and gray shoes.

"What is it Master Yen Sid?" Mickey asked.

Yen Sid summoned a small book before speaking, "I am going to read to you a story of significant importance that I believe you should know." He cleared his throat and began reading.

 _'Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the wamth of Light. Everyone loved the Light. Then people began to fight over it. They wanted to keep it for themselves. And Darkness was born in their hearts. The Darkness spread, swallowing the Light and many people's hearts. It covered everything, and the world disappeared. But small fragments of Light survived, in the hearts of children. With these fragments of Light, children rebuilt the lost world. It's the world we live in now. But the true Light sleeps, deep within the Darkness. That's why the worlds are still scattered, divided from each other. But someday, a door to the innermost Darkness will open and the true Light will return._

After he finished reading, Yen Sid desummoned the book, and began to speak, "Now Mickey, what do you think this story is talking about?"

"Hmm..." Mickey went into a thinking pose, before speaking, "Well, it's obvious that- Master Yen Sid! What's that?!" Mickey pointed out the window, which had a white glow coming in from outside. Both Mickey and Yen Sid rushed to the window, and when the light died out they saw a young man, presumably 15 or 16, with black hair on the ground, naked and unconscious.

"Quickly. You go and retrieve that young man, while I set up a place to put him!" Yen Sid commanded. Mickey nodded before dashing out the door.

* * *

 **Please R and R. Constructive criticism is appreciated, but please, no flames.**


	2. Chapter 1: Time of Introductions

**Hi guys. I posted this chapter at the same time as the previous one because I didn't think that the previous chapter gave a good... feel, I guess you can say, to how the story will be. So I posted this so people will understand where the story is going to go.**

 **I'm sure some of you noticed that last chapter there were a few points that were written as a joke. There is a reason for this. Throughout the course of my books, the story is going to get very dark. Those small comedy strips are there for balancing how dark it _feels_. An extremely dark story without any way to balance it is, in my opinion, not something everyone wants to read entirely. That is why they are there. Of course, that is my opinion on the matter, as I'm sure many of you love extremely dark stories.**

 **Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is owned by Tetsuya Nomura.**

* * *

 _Chapter 1_ _: Time of Introductions_

The young man awoke and slowly sat up. He noticed that he was dressed in a gray robe. He started to observe his surroundings. He was in a circular room with a lot of blanket-covered mirrors and a small table in the middle. He got up and walked over to a window before thinking, 'Where am I?"

He walked over to one of the mirrors and observed himself. He was a late-teen with black hair that had spikes on the right, and gray eyes. As mentioned earlier, he was in a gray robe. Hearing that the door opened, he turned around to see two figures entering the room.

"Oh! You're awake!" Mickey exclaimed. The young man hesitantly nodded at the statement. "Where am I?" he asked.

"You are at my tower. My name is Yen Sid and this here is Mickey," Mickey waved 'hello' at his name. "Young man, can you tell us your name and how you got here?"

The young man thought for a minute, which raised confused and worried looks before answering, "I-I think my name is Tempus, Gray Tempus. As to how I got here, I-I don't know."

"Do ya know what you were doin' before ya got here?" Mickey asked. Tempus shook his head 'no' in reply. "Do ya remember anything about yourself or somethin'?" Tempus thought for a moment before raising his hand out in front of him and saying, "Just this," and summoned a key-shaped weapon. It had a round black guard with a small black triangle on top, which had a clock in the center, a handle that was black in the center and faded to white on the ends, a light gray neck, at the end of the weapon the neck curved into a backwards "D" and crossing over the neck to a clock that had gray and black spikes on the top and bottom, two gray clock hands and two black clock hands on the outermost side, black clock hands on the clock, and on the guard there was a black clock with gray clock hands attached to a gray keychain.

Both Mickey and Yen Sid had a shocked expression, with Mickey shouting. "A Keyblade!" before Yen Sid said, "Tempus, I do believe we should explain a few things for you. Follow me."

Tempus followed Yen Sid and Mickey into the room that Mickey and Yen Sid were in earlier. Yen Sid sat down in his chair and summoned two more chairs for Mickey and Tempus, both of which sat down in the chairs. Yen Sid then spoke up.

"Tempus, what do you know of that weapon you summoned?" he asked.

"Uh... Its name is Time of Dusk," he said sheepishly. Both Mickey and Yen Sid sweatdropped at this. Sighing, Yen Sid began to speak again, "Tempus. Could you please summon it and place it on the table?" Tempus held out his hand, and three outlines of clocks appeared, before some type of gray colored energy imploded in each clock, taking the form of Time of Dusk.

Tempus examined it for a moment, before placing it on the table. Yen Sid took this as a chance to speak again. "This weapon is known as a Keyblade, a semi-sentient weapon that chooses people with strong hearts, be they good or bad, to be their wielder. The Keyblade is a mysterious thing, and we know not from whence it came, but one thing we do know is that it can lock or unlock many things. Mickey, could you perhaps demonstrate on the door over there?" "You have one as well, Mickey?" Tempus asked, surprised. "Yup," Mickey happily said.

Mickey jumped out of his seat before summoning Star Seeker, and pointed it at the door. A beam of light shot out from the Keyblade and hit the door, and a 'click' reverberated throughout the room. He then desummoned his Keyblade and sat back down.

"Could you teach me how to do that?" an awestruck Tempus asked. Yen Sid and Mickey only chuckled in reply.

* * *

 _The next day_

After teaching Tempus how to lock and unlock things with the Keyblade, they got him some new clothes. He was now wearing a t-shirt that was white on the bottom before fading to black on the top and sleeves. Over the shirt he had a black jacket with only one sleeve on the left, which faded into white the further down it went. On his legs he had a special type of pants. On the right leg it was white on the bottom and faded into black at the top, with a light gray pocket near the knee, and on the left leg the pants was black, and only went to the knee. The pants also had "normal" pockets at the top.

After he got his new clothes Tempus was sitting at the table with Mickey and Yen Sid. They had said that they needed to talk after he got his clothes, and Tempus had an inkling of what about.

"This is about what I'm gonna do from here on, right?" Tempus asked. This drew nods from both Mickey and Yen Sid. "Well, I don't know. Do either of you have any suggestions?" he asked. Mickey and Yen Sid looked at each other and nodded before looking back at Tempus. Yen Sid spoke, "I believe you should go to the Land of Departure and learn to use the Keyblade under Master Eraqus. There, you will be with three other Keyblade wielders that are around your age. I believe that this would be the best course of action for you. With time, you could possibly become a Keyblade Master."

Nodding, he said, "That sounds like a good idea. Just ooone question: What's a Keyblade Master?" Tempus asked.

"Mickey. Would you like to explain?" Yen Sid asked. Mickey nodded with a happy expression before he began to speak, "A Keyblade Master is a person with full control of his or her heart. Most Keyblade Masters these days are also experts of utilizing the Keyblade to its fullest. Once one becomes a Master, they have the choice of the Seeker, a Master who travels the worlds, or succeeds his or her previous Master to guard over that land. But all Keyblade Masters, no, all Keyblade wielders are tasked with stopping anything that would disrupt the balance of the worlds." "What Mickey said is mostly true. Anything else would be taught by Eraqus himself. Now, Tempus, do you have any other questions?" Yen Sid asked. After receiving a 'no' in reply, he said, "Then I will contact Master Eraqus after we are done here. He should be here within two days. Please make yourself comfortable until then." With that, everyone left to do their own things.

 _Two days later_

After waiting for two days, we see Tempus and Yen Sid standing outside the tower. Mickey was nowhere to be found for some reason.

* * *

Mickey was currently in bed, with Z's coming from him. "Wait..." _Snore_. "... My cheese..." _Snore._

* * *

Tempus turned to the tower and thought, 'Where is he? He better not be sleeping.'

"Is this him?" an unknown voice said. Tempus turned around to see a middle-aged man with black hair, that had a bang on the side of his head and the rest in a ponytail. He was wearing a black shirt with a silver "X" on it under a red-outlined, white haori, some type of gray waist armor, tan pants and golden, metal boots.

"Oh come on! I had my back turned for five seconds and that's when you decide to come! That's just nice. Real nice," Tempus said sarcastically. This caused the older men to laugh.

After calming down, the new person said, "You are Tempus, correct?" He received a nod in reply. "My name is Eraqus. As you were probably told, I am a Keyblade Master. You are a Keyblade Master, correct?" Another nod. "Yen Sid has told me of your,... 'predicament,' and I will gladly take you on as an apprentice. Are you ready to leave?" Eraqus asked.

"Yep. I'm ready to go. Take care Yen Sid. Tell Mickey to stop oversleeping," Tempus said. This made Yen Sid chuckle slightly. He then followed Eraqus into a strange purple and gold train.

The tower doors opened to a panting Mickey. Yen Sid, hearing this, said, "You just missed him." "Darn." This made Yen Sid chuckle again, with Mickey glaring at him.

* * *

Eraqus and Tempus arrived at the Land of Departure a few hours later, which made Tempus slightly suspicious.

"Master Eraqus? If it only took a few hours to get here, then why did I have to wait at the tower for two days?" Right as Eraqus was about to answer, a new voice shouted to them.

"Oh. Master, you're back. Where did you go, and who's this?" a brown haired man asked.

"Terra, could you go get Aqua and Ventus, and have them meet in the main hall in five minutes?" Eraqus asked. Terra nodded and replied, "Alright," before running off. "Come with me, Tempus," Eraqus said.

 _Five minutes later, in the main hall_

Eraqus was standing in front of the three tall chairs, with Tempus next to him. In front of them were Terra, a tall man with brown hair, a blue haired woman, and a blonde boy who was younger than the two. **(AN: I'm done describing non-OC clothing. Everyone wears canon clothing. I will still describe original things, though.)** Eraqus began to speak, "As the three of you know, I was contacted by Master Yen Sid two days ago. He requested that I go there as soon as possible. The reason for this was because of the young man next to me. For reasons unknown, he appeared at Yen Sid's tower. He has no memories from before arriving at the tower, except for two things, his name and the fact that he can wield a Keyblade. That is why he is here. He is to become your fellow pupil in training to become a Keyblade Master. I will let you introduce yourselves now. I will be in my study if anyone needs me. That is all." And with that, he left.

Terra went up to Tempus first, and stuck his hand out, "Hi there. I'm Altrae Terra(Dark Earth), Terra for short." "Tempus, Gray Tempus(Gray Time)," he said as he shook Terra's hand. The blue haired woman went next. "Hello. My name is Mystica Aqua(Mystic/Mystical Water), but please, call me Aqua." "Nice to meet you, Aqua," Tempus said with an eye smile. The younger boy went last. "...Ventus... Lucis(Wind of Light)... Ven," Ventus said before going off to who-knows-where. "Sorry about him. He only came a month ago, and since then he doesn't talk very much. But I'm sure he will open up soon," Terra said. "It's ok. Hey, do you think you could show me around?" Tempus asked. "Sure," both Terra and Aqua said.

 _A month later_

Over the past month a few things had happened. Ven was finally talking in full sentences now, although he still didn't talk very often. He also hadn't smiled once in the past month, though Aqua told Tempus that he's been like that ever since he came two months ago. Ven and Tempus were also told what to expect as a Keyblade wielder, which included the responsibilities and such. After that, they began combat training with the Keyblade, and Tempus surprised everyone with how fast he learned. He was already past Aqua and Ven, and was at Terra's level, who had been training for two years now. When asked how he was able to advance so fast, Tempus replied, "It feels natural to me, almost like I've already done this multiple times." Lastly, Tempus now wore a necklace that had the symbol for the Mark of Mastery, as well as gray, metal boots, with lines of black and white.

Terra, Aqua, Ven, and Tempus all stood before Eraqus in the main hall. He had said yesterday that they all were going to learn something new today. Seeing that everyone was present, Eraqus spoke, "Everyone. Today you shall learn the basics of Magic. Magic utilizes your inner energy. You give that energy a form and it becomes just that. That is the very basic explanation of Magic. However, in actuality, in order to cast Magic, you must first understand how the spell you cast works. Not only know the end result, but _understand_ how to make the spell form. Take a simple **Fire** spell. You know that it shoots a ball of fire, but you understand that you are increasing the movement speed of surrounding particles by exerting your inner energy. Now, the reason I used the **Fire** spell as an example is because that is the spell you will attempt to learn. I have set up four targets behind you. You four will try to hit your target with three **Fire** spells in a row. Now, begin!" And with that, the four of them started to practice making a **Fire** spell.

A couple of hours later, an they were still at it. Aqua was very close to making a stable spell, and was now taking a small break with Ven and Terra, the latter of which was having extreme trouble controlling the ball of flames, and the former having slight problems with both contol and power. Tempus, on the other hand...

"Dammit! Still too little power. Hey! What are you guys sitting around for?"

... was being stubborn. He had said that he wasn't resting until he either passed out or could make a stable **Fire** spell. Tempus, while usually calm, became quickly agitated and stubborn if he couldn't do something, and event that has occurred a few times in the past month already.

Ven, either out of renewed determination from watching Tempus, or something else, got up and began concentrating for the **Fire** spell. As he was doing that, something strange happened to Tempus. He saw black for half a second before seeing Aqua and Terra hit by an out of control **Fire** spell that Ven had cast. His vision then went black for half a second again before seeing Ven just about to cast a **Fire** spell. Quickly figuring out what happened, he ran towards Aqua and Terra while shouting, "Get out of the way!" Ven's **Fire** spell was cast, but it suddenly went out of control and went towards Terra and Aqua. Right before it hit them, Tempus was able to push them out of the way, though the fireball grazed his leg as a result. Instinctively, Tempus brought a hand to the burn and cast some type of green spell to heal it.

Eraqus, who had seen all of this, called them over. He had gotten a suspicion about something. "Everyone! Stop what you are doing and come over here." Terra, Aqua, and Tempus got up and went in front of their master along with Ven. The former three had confusion written on their faces, as well as worry on Tempus's face. Ven only looked to the ground with slight guilt. Eraqus, seeing this, could only sigh. "Ventus, what happened was only an accident. Do not blame yourself over this slight mishap." Ven perked up slightly at the Master's words.

"Now, I have called all of you over for two reasons. The first pertaining to Tempus." This drew confused looks from all of them. Eraqus looked directly at Tempus before speaking, "Tempus. Two things you did were rather strange during this occurrence. The first was that you seemed to already know that Ventus's **Fire** spell would go off course to where Terra and Aqua were sitting, and took action before Ventus even cast the spell. Now, I believe I know how you knew that would happen, but could you please explain to us what exactly happened?" Eraqus asked.

Terra, Aqua, and Ven threw a confused look at Tempus, who was pondering how to best explain it. Aqua decided to ask the question on the threes' minds. "What do you mean, Master? Didn't he react after the **Fire** spell swerved out of control?" It was Tempus who responded. "No Aqua, he's correct. I don't know how best to explain it, but I'll try anyways. It was as if I remembered you and Terra getting hit before it actually happened. Was that what you suspected, Master?" he asked. Eraqus nodded at the question. "It was. We will get back to that in a moment. Tempus, the second thing that stuck out was that you cast a focused **Cure** spell on your leg after you were burned by the **Fire** spell. Were you consciously aware that you did so?" Tempus shook his head. "No. I knew I had done something only after it happened. It was more instinctual that anything. But, I think I can do it again. Not an actual **Cure** spell, but that focused version," he said. Eraqus nodded. "I believe that you will be a great healer one day, Tempus. Now. could everyone please go through the door to my left? This has to do with my second reason. Tempus, please stay a moment."

As Eraqus and Tempus watched them go to the next room, Eraqus dropped to his knees. "Please teach me how to focus the **Cure** spell, Healing Master!" he pretty much pleaded. Multiple sweatdrops were needed that hour.

* * *

"Hey, Tempus. What did the Master need you for?" Terra asked. "You _really_ don't wanna know, trust me," Tempus responded, facepalming.

"Tempus. Do you think you could teach me that focused **Cure** spell you and Master were talking about?" Aqua asked.

 **BANG**

 **BANG**

 **BANG**

"Was it something I said?" Aqua asked worriedly, seeing Tempus banging his head on the wall.

"... Was that wall already there when we came in?" Ven asked Terra. "You know, that's a good question, Ven," Terra responded while they both watched Aqua attempt to stop Tempus.

It was this scene that Eraqus saw when he entered the room. Sighing, he walked over to a crystal in the wall before getting the four's attention. "Ahem. Could everyone come over here, please?"

Once they were in front of him, he thought for a moment before speaking, "I honestly wasn't going to do this for another six months, but I need a question answered about Tempus. This brings us to the second reason I mentioned earlier. This crystal behind me shows a person their magical affinities. An affinity is something a person has that determines which spells are easier for them to cast than those without that specific affinity. It also increases how powerful a spell with that affinity is. For example, a person with a Thunder affinity has the potential to use more powerful variants of Thunder spells, easier. Furthermore, an affinity gets stronger the more you use spells of the same affinity. It is also possible to develop what I call side affinities, but they can only be the affinities Fire, Water, Ice, Thunder, Wind, Light, Dark, or Cure. Any others have to be a primary affinity. It is possible, however, to have more than one primary affinity. One last thing you should know about affinities is that some people can use spells only _because_ they have that affinity. So people without a certain affinity most likely can't use spells that share that affinity. However, this is extremely rare, as only a few affinities are like that.

He waited for them to let the huge amount of information sink in before continuing, "Now, the reason I am doing this earlier than anticipated is because it would not be fair for only Tempus to learn his affinities. The reason he needs to learn his affinities is because of what happened earlier. It is said that those with a Time affinity can occasionally see the future, but someone untrained cause accidents which affect Time itself. And I believe that Tempus here has the Time affinity, though I am not certain. That is why we are going to see which affinities each of you has, starting with Aqua. Aqua, will you please place your hand on the crystal."

Aqua placed her hand on the crystal, and suddenly a picture of a red flame and a light blue snowflake glowed brightly on the crystal. She then took her hand off and the pictures disappeared. "That would be the Fire and Ice affinities, right Master?" Aqua asked. Eraqus nodded. "Yes, Aqua. That is correct. They are also very high affinities, something you don't see very often these days. Moving on, Terra. You're next."

Mimicking Aqua, Terra put his hand on the crystal. The crystal showed a dimly lit brown boulder and a flickering black circle with a purple crescent in it. "Terra, you have a low Earth affinity and slight Dark affinity. Be extremely careful with the Dark affinity, Terra. It could nurture the Darkness in your heart if you are careless with it. Ventus, it is your turn," Eraqus said.

Placing his hand on the crystal, Ven watched as a green tornado and a white nativity star glowed moderately. "Wind and, Light?" he asked. Eraqus nodded. "Correct, Ventus. Finally, it is your turn Tempus."

Repeating what all three before him did, Tempus placed his hand on the crystal. What happened next shocked everyone. A gray clock shone in front of the crystal with gray energy swirling around the clock. Tempus quickly retracted his hand from the crystal making the projection disappear. "Tempus, your affinities for Time and Gray are higher than anything I have seen or heard of before," Eraqus said after a moment, still visibly shocked.

As everyone got over there shock, Aqua asked the question on the apprentices' minds. "Master, what is Gray? I've never heard of it." The other three nodded at the much needed question.

"Gray is a synchronization of Light and Dark. However, they are not mixing. A perfect balance of Light and Dark are working together so perfectly that they create a new element, the element of Gray. There is a cost, though. Those who have a Gray affinity can never use Light and Dark separately," Eraqus explained.

"Now then, if any of you want to learn a spell for you affinity, there are books in the library. Tempus, you will have to create your own spells for Gray, as I have nothing on it. I do, however, have a few spells for Time. Well then, training resumes in a couple days. I will be in the library if you need me. Dismissed," Eraqus said.

* * *

 **Now that you know what affinities are, I can request something from you guys. I would like ideas for moves and abilities for Tempus. In the reviews, or PM if you want, tell me a name and a small description of an ability. It can be unique. Actually, I encourage you guys to make unique moves. Just know that not everyone's will be used, but those that do will be given credit and mentioned in AN's. Also, nothing too overpowering for him.**

 **Please R and R. Constructive criticism is appreciated, but please, no flames.**


	3. Chapter 2: Time of Beginnings

**Hey... Sorry that I haven't uploaded. I have had a lot of stuff going on. If you don't believe me that's up to you. I will probably not stay to my uploading plan, but that does not mean I am abandoning the story. I intend to see it through even if it kills me. Shame there aren't any reviews, but I wasn't expecting any. On brighter news, the new chapter's out.**

 **On another subject, I have posted a picture of Tempus as well as a separate picture of his Keyblade, and a picture of the cover image in Deviantart. The links can be found here and on my profile as well.**

 **Cover Image:** **art/Cover-Art-Image-596516374**

 **Tempus: art/Gray-Tempus-596517178**

 **Time of Dusk(Keyblade): art/Time-of-Dusk-596517441**

 **Now, onto the story.**

 **Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is, unfortunately, owned by Tetsuya Nomura, not me.**

* * *

 _Chapter 2: Time of Introductions_

'So… tomorrow is the exam. I wonder how we'll do. Terra and Aqua are sure to pass with flying colors, but I've only been here for nearly two years, a fraction of the time they have. Oh well, no use complaining,' Tempus thought to himself.

He was currently in his room looking out the window. His room was gray with a clock on the wall opposite of the window. The room didn't have much in it. A brown, wooden desk and bookshelf on one side, and his bed near the window. He also had a lamp on his desk, along with a few scattered papers.

While Tempus was thinking to himself he saw Ven running outside. 'Wonder what he's up to,' he thought to himself. Then he saw a couple of meteors fly by. 'Oh, a meteor shower… I think I'll join him.' And with that thought, he went after Ven.

As he was walking, he met up with Aqua. "Oh. Hey, Aqua," he said. "Hello. Why are you out so late?" she asked after greeting him. "I'm going after Ven to watch the meteor shower. Wanna join?" "Alright."

When the two got to where Ven was, they saw that he was asleep. "He's been out here for no longer than ten minutes, and he already fell asleep?" Tempus asked rhetorically. Aqua giggled lightly at that.

Shortly after, Ven slowly started to wake up. Yawning, he sat up, only to lay back down and see Aqua leaning over him.

"Whoa!" he shouted as he bolted up. He then turned around while on his knees to see Aqua giggling slightly and Tempus silently chuckling. "Gimme a break, you two," he said.

Standing up straight, Aqua spoke, "Ven, you hopeless sleepyhead. You know, you should have at least brought a blanket." "Aqua, are you scolding little Ven here?" Tempus asked. "Hey!" Ven shouted. "Do you want me to scold you, too, Tempus?" Aqua asked. "I heard nothing," he said as he laid down on the nearby stone bench.

"But – Did I dream that place up?" Ven asked, looking towards the ground. "It really felt like I'd been there before… looking up at the stars…" Aqua petted the top of Ven's head before replying, "'Cept you've always lived here with us." "Yeah… I know," he said while finally looking up. "…" Tempus stayed quiet, not wanting to lie to Ven about him always being here.

Both Ven and Aqua sat down at the ledge before Ven asked, "Hey Aqua." "Hm?" "Y'ever wonder what stars are? Where light comes from?" "Hmm… Well they say-" she began.

"That every star up there is another world," Terra finished from behind them. Ven and Aqua looked back to see Terra standing there. "Terra," Aqua said. "Yep, hard to believe there are so many worlds out there besides our own. The light is their hearts, and it's shining down on us like a million lanterns," Terra said while walking towards the two. "Or it could be millions of pleas for help," Tempus said while also walking towards them. "Don't be such a pessimist," Terra replied. They would never know how right Tempus was that day.

Turning around, Ven said, "What? I don't get it." "In other words, they're just like you, Ven," Terra replied. Tempus held in his laughter. "What does _that_ mean?" Ven asked, walking towards Terra. "You'll find out someday, I'm sure," Terra said. "I wanna know now," Ven whined. "You're too young to know now," Terra retorted. "Quit treating me like a kid." "Ven, I don't mean to burst your bubble, but you _are_ a kid." "Stay out of this, Tempus." It was at this point that Aqua's giggling was heard.

"Hey, what are you laughing at?" Terra asked. "I can't help it. The four of us would make the weirdest siblings," Aqua said while still giggling lightly. "Aqua, if we were siblings, you would be trying to fix this place up while the three if us were fighting over the last piece of bacon," Tempus said, chuckling. "Are you implying that I wouldn't be fighting as well, Tempus?" "Oh hell no. You stay away from my bacon," he replied. "Hey! What makes you think you'll win?" Ven asked Tempus. And they all burst out laughing.

* * *

As they were all sitting on the ledge, Aqua remembered something. "Oh yeah. Tempus, Terra, we have our Mark of Mastery exams tomorrow," she said while walking behind them. She then pulled out four star-shaped pendants while saying, "I made us good luck charms. Here!" she said while tossing them to Terra, Tempus, and Ven. "I get one too?" Ven asked. "Of course. One for each of us," Aqua said while all four held out their charms. Terra had orange, Ven had green, Aqua had blue, and Tempus had gray.

"Somewhere out there, there's this tree with star-shaped fruit… and the fruit represents an unbreakable connection. So as long as you and your friends carry good luck charms shaped like it, nothing can ever drive you apart. You'll always find your way back to each other," Aqua explained. "Technically, I think you're supposed to make them with seashells, but I did the best with what I had," she finished. "Oi, sometimes you are such a girl," Terra said jokingly. "Hey, what do you mean, 'sometimes'?" "So this isn't a real good luck charms?" Ven asked, slightly sad. "Well, that's yet to be seen. But I did work a little magic on it. "Really? What?" Ven asked excitedly. Smiling, she responded, "An unbreakable connection."

 _A little while later_

"Hey, we're gonna head back," Terra said to Ven. Nodding, he said, "Yeah, me too," before running to catch up with the three.

Looking up at the stars and clutching her Wayfinder, Aqua said, "Together… Always."

As they were heading back, Tempus was thinking, 'I have a _really_ bad feeling about tomorrow.'

 _That would be the last night we ever spent beneath the same stars._

* * *

 _The following morning_

Terra, Tempus, and Aqua all stood in the main hall in front of Master Eraqus and a bald, old man with a goatee. Ven stood off to the side, as he was not taking the Mark of Mastery, like the other three. However, they were all equally nervous.

"Today you will be examined for the Mark of Mastery," Eraqus began. "Not one but three of the Keyblade's chosen stand here as candidates… but this is neither a competition nor a battle for supremacy – not a test of wills, but a test of heart. All of you may prevail, or none at all. But I am sure our guest, Master Xehanort, did not travel all this way to see our youngest prospects in years fall short of the Mark," Master Xehanort nodded at the statement. "I trust you are ready." "Yes," the three chorused. Summoning his Keyblade, Master Eraqus said, "Then let the examination begin," and with that, he summoned orbs of Light behind the three. Terra, Tempus, and Aqua all summoned their Keyblades and got into a battle stance.

It was at this point that something strange occurred. The orbs were engulfed in an exo-skeleton of Darkness, and started moving aimlessly. While everyone, including Master Eraqus, was shocked at this, the three began dispatching the orbs anyway.

"Ven!" the three shouted worriedly. An orb of Light had targeted Ven and went after him. Seeing this, Ven summoned his Keyblade in a reverse grip and took out the orb. "Don't worry about me," he said while getting into a battle stance. "You three focus on the exam!" "But Ven, you're in danger here. Go wait in your room," Aqua ordered while eyeing the orbs. "No way! I've been looking forward to this – seeing you three become Master. I'm not going to miss it now!" he replied passionately. "He can take care of himself. He's been out there training just as hard as us," Terra said. "He could probably beat us in a fight, Aqua. He'll be fine," Tempus chimed int. "Yeah!" Ven exclaimed, grateful for the support. Reigning in defeat, Aqua said, "Stay sharp, Ven."

The orbs of Light started to attack just as she said that. Terra, Aqua, and Ven all rushed in to destroy the orbs while Tempus stayed back to heal any injuries with **Cure** before he, too, jumped in to help.

Terra went to attack the orb closest to him. He slashed at the orb a few times, though seeing that it wasn't enough, used **Stun Edge** to destroy it. However, he didn't see the orb of Light behind him, and just as it was about to attack him, it got destroyed courtesy to a **Blizzard** and **Strike Raid** from Aqua and Ven, respectively. Hearing this, he quickly turned around to see the orb disappearing. "Be more aware of your surroundings, Terra!" Aqua shouted. Only nodding in reply, he closed the distance between him and a nearby orb with **Sliding Dash** before destroying it with **Quick Blitz**.

Seeing that he was okay, Aqua focused on a faraway orb for a second before sending a dozen bubbles at it, obliterating the orb entirely. She saw an orb frozen in place mid-attack (A small beam of Light) from Tempus's **Stop**. Doing a cartwheel to avoid an attack from a different orb, which was destroyed by a few mini fireballs from Ven, she ran up to the orb frozen in time, and slashed at it three times with her Keyblade, before doing a **Thunder** to finish it off. She then ran towards another orb.

Meanwhile, Ven had just gotten hit by an orb and was blown back. Once he was able to get back up, he saw two orbs coming at him from his sides. Using **Aero** , he destroyed one orb while the other was flown back from the spell. Rushing towards it, he hit it twice to end its short life. Suddenly feeling rejuvenated, he looked to see Tempus mouthing 'your welcome,' as he had cast **Cure** on Ven, who nodded in thanks before going after one of the few orbs left.

Seeing Ven nodded at him, Tempus focused back on the three orbs of Light in front of him. Casting **Stop** , he went up towards the closest orb while casting two **Sphere** 's at the other two, an orb of Gray that tracks the enemy, and hacked away until it was destroyed. Tempus then went in between the other two and did a spinning attack to wipe them out. Seeing that there were no more orbs, he cast **Cure** on everyone before walking to in front of Master Eraqus with Aqua and Terra, while Ven went to stand on the sideline again.

Seeing the three before him were ready, Eraqus spoke, "That was unexpected… but one must keep a still heart even in the most trying of circumstances. It was an excellent test, one I chose to let unfold. Which brings us to your next trial."

The three went to stand in a triangle formation facing each other, Keyblades in hand. "Now Terra, Aqua, and Tempus, the three of you will face each other in combat. Remember, there are no winners – only truths, for when equal powers clash, their true nature is revealed." The three got into their battle stances as Master Eraqus spoke. Seeing that they were ready, Master Eraqus shouted, "Begin!"

Right away, Terra and Aqua got into a deadlock, which Tempus slid under and attempted to swing at Aqua's legs. Aqua immediately broke the deadlock and jumped over the swing and followed up with an attack towards Tempus, which he blocked while throwing a kick towards Terra as he got off the ground. Knocking Terra to the ground, Tempus jumped away from Aqua and ran towards the downed Terra, before turning around to shoot a **Sphere** at the **Blizzard** Aqua cast, cancelling each other out.

Terra finally got off the ground and did a **Sliding Dash** towards the two, before going after Tempus. Just as he was about to swing at Tempus, he instinctively leaned back to narrowly dodge Aqua's Keyblade. Jumping back, he saw both of them running towards him, and he narrowed his eyes as his left arm became engulfed in Darkness. Looking at his hand slightly shocked, he extinguished the Darkness and continued fighting. Curiously, Master Xehanort smiled at the scene.

Soon the three stood before the two Masters before Eraqus spoke. "We have deliberated and reached a decision. Terra, Aqua, Tempus, you all performed commendably. However, only Aqua and Tempus have shown the Mark of Mastery." The three gasped at that. Aqua looked surprised, Terra looked shocked and sad, and Tempus looked at Terra worriedly. Eraqus continued, "Terra, you failed to keep the Darkness within you sufficiently in check. But there is always next time. That is all. Tempus, Aqua, as our newest Keyblade Masters, you are entitled to certain knowledge. Please wait here for further instruction," and with that said, the two Masters left the room.

"Hey…" Aqua said softly as Ven came running to the three. Tempus looked at Terra sadly. "Terra, I'm sorry," Ven said, to which both Tempus and Aqua nodded. "Are you ok?" Tempus asked worriedly. "The Darkness… Where did it come from?" Terra asked himself as he stared at the ground. After a minute, he finally said, "Sorry… but I need some time alone," as he walked away. The other three looked at him worriedly.

* * *

Tempus and Aqua stood in front of Master Eraqus as he was speaking. "… and insomuch as you are now Keyblade Masters, you must always be conscious of- " he was cut short as a bell started ringing throughout the building. "What is that?" Eraqus asked as he saw the communication crystal behind the long chairs glowing.

Right as Eraqus began walking to the crystal, Terra ran into the room. "What happened?" he asked. "I don't know./Don't know," Aqua and Tempus replied. "Why isn't Ven here?" Aqua asked. "Aqua, you know as well as the rest of us that it would have to be something extremely important for him to not be here. Just calm down," Tempus told her.

"Very well then, I will send my pupils to investigate," Eraqus said to the crystal. After a second he said, "Yes, I understand. Farewell." Walking to the three, he spoke. "That was my dear old friend Yen Sid." Tempus perked up at hearing the sorcerer, remembering when he first came here. "As you know, he is Master no more… but he still keeps a close eye on the tides of Light and Darkness. His counsel serves as signposts on the road we wielders of the Keyblade must walk. All the more reason, then, for concern- for he tells me the Princesses of Heart, females with hearts of pure Light, are in danger. Not only from the forces of Darkness, as you may assume… but also from a new threat- one that feeds on negativity. Fledgling emotions that have taken monster form- Yen Sid calls them the 'Unversed.' As wielders of the Keyblade, you are tasked with striking down any who would upset the balance of Light and Darkness. The Unversed are no exception. I tried to pass this news on to Master Xehanort, but my repeated attempts to reach him have failed. I doubt there is any connection, and yet.. This all troubles me."

"Master Xehanort is gone?" Terra asked softly to himself. Tempus and Aqua cast a brief confused look to him as Eraqus continued. "So here we are. Eliminate the Unversed, and find Master Xehanort. I have unlocked the Lanes Between. You may use these forbidden pathways to travel between this world and countless others. The Darkness looms closer than usual within these spaces, but your armor will protect you."

Eraqus then remembered something. "Tempus, you may use your Corridors of Gray. I know that there are risks in there, but as you cannot use Keyblade Armor, this is the only alternative." Tempus then thought back to when he found out about the Corridor.

 _Flashback_

 _Tempus was walking towards Eraqus's study. He was called up there because Eraqus had found something about his Gray abilities. This was good news for Tempus as he had made little progress on the affinity he learned about five months ago._

 _Walking into the study, Tempus stood in front of Master Eraqus, who was seated at his desk. Seeing Tempus in front of him, he spoke. "Tempus, since you cannot use Keyblade Armor since it needs Light energy to activate, I have been trying to figure out a way for you to travel between worlds in the unlikely event that you need to. The fact that it has to do with Gray is only a coincidence, and will most likely not happen again."_

" _So, what is it that you found?" Tempus asked curiously. "It is a technique called Corridor of Gray. It opens a portal of sorts- actually, do you remember what I taught you about Corridors of Light and Corridors of Darkness?" Eraqus asked. "Yes." "Corridors of Gray are essentially the same with two key differences. The first is that only those with Gray affinities can use this technique, and the second is the threat of the Heartless, beings made when people lose their hearts to Darkness. There are Heartless that dwell in these Corridors, so take extra caution if you are to use this technique. Do you understand?" "Yes, Master," Tempus replied while nodding once. "Then take this," Eraqus said while handing Tempus a journal. "These are instructions on how to make Corridors of Gray. Good luck learning it, but be cautious." "Thanks, and I will." And with that he left,_

 _Flashback End_

Hearing Eraqus speak, Tempus snapped out of his thoughts. "Lastly, remember that order must be kept. You cannot tell anyone there are other worlds. Now go, and fulfill your duty." "Yes, Master," the three spoke.

As Terra turned to leave, Eraqus spoke up once more. "Terra." Hearing his name, he stopped and turned back around. "Consider this an opportunity. A second chance for you to change my mind," Eraqus said.

"What?" Terra asked, confused. Walking towards him, Eraqus continued. "You must know, I care for you like my own son." Eraqus stopped in front of him. "If I could have my way, I would name you Master in a second. But how can I, when you are so obsessed with power? Terra, you mustn't be afraid of losing. Fear leads to obsession with power, and obsession beckons the Darkness." Putting a hand on his shoulder, he said, "You must never forget." Bowing, Terra replied, "Thank you, Master. I swear… I will not fail you again," he finished with enthusiasm. He then turned around and left.

"Master, we'd best be on our way," Aqua said with Tempus nodding in agreement. Aqua turned and started walking and saw Ven running across the room, while Tempus was preparing a Corridor of Gray. ( **A/N: Corridor of Gray will be abbreviated to G.C. from now on.** ) "Wait, you two." Aqua turned around and Tempus closed his Corridor. "Before you depart, I have one other… Well, call it a request of the upmost priority," Eraqus said. "Yes?/What is it?" Aqua and Tempus asked, respectively. "I told Terra this could be a second chance to show the Mark of Mastery… and I meant it. However, that flicker of Darkness he displayed during the examination- I can sense it runs very deep. And no, I do not mean his Dark affinity. If he were to- If those powers were to prove too much for him to handle, I want one of you to bring him back to me at once. It's for his own good."The two newly named Masters looked sad and reluctant as he was speaking. "I could not bear to lose any of you to the Darkness." "Of course. I would never let that happen. I promise you I will bring Terra back," Aqua said.

Tempus meanwhile stayed silent while thinking, 'No way I'm spying on one of my closest friends. Why is Aqua agreeing, though? Did she let becoming Master go to her head?' "Only this time, you'll see he has what it takes to be a Master. He's not as weak as you think." Tempus nodded in agreement to the final part of Aqua's short speech.

After Aqua left the building to depart, Tempus also prepared to leave. However, right as he was about to leave, Eraqus put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Wait a moment, Tempus."

* * *

 **Original Moves:**

 **Sphere - The basic Gray spell. It is a gray orb that follows the target.**

 **Please R and R. Constructive criticism is appreciated, but please, no flames.**


	4. Chapter 3: Time of Arenas

**Hey Guys! Already got a new chapter out. This was close to completion already so it didn't take long to get it out. Now, onto the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. That privilege is Tetsuya Nomura's.**

* * *

 _Chapter 3: Time of Arenas_

'Where are all the Heartless? When Master and I came in here, this place was littered with them, so why is it so empty?'

Currently we see Tempus in his G.C. The G.C. was a huge place in the shape of an egg, with different shades of gray swirling around. You couldn't see the floor, giving the illusion of walking on nothing. ( **A/N: Basically, a larger, gray version of Betwixt and Between.** )

As Tempus was thinking, he didn't notice the Shadow rising from the ground behind him. Right as the Shadow jumped to attack, Tempus moved out of the way. 'Thankfully I heard it jump, or else I would've taken a bad hit,' he thought before destroying the Shadow. Several more Shadows appeared around Tempus to replace the fallen Shadow. 'So that's where they were hiding. Well, it's never a bad thing to take out Heartless.' And with that thought, he began his attack.

" **Stop**!" Tempus shouted, casting said spell. The Heartless around him froze in place, and he started going around slashing as many Heartless as possible. In this case, three were killed. However, six more appeared in their stead. Casting **Stop** again, he tried to destroy all of them before the spell ended, however he was only able to get five of them before time resumed for them again. Ten more appeared, making a total of thirteen Shadow Heartless around him.

Jumping back, he thought, 'What the? It's like a group hydra.' He rolled under a shadow that tried to jump him, and then jumped further back. 'Wait… If they're acting like a hydra, then I need to kill all of them at once. The only problem is that my **Stop** spell won't last long enough. What if I…? Yeah, that might work,' he though.

Jumping back into the group of Heartless, he started casting **Stop**. However, before he cast the spell, he tried casting another **Stop**. He then released both at the same time. " **Stopra**!" Tempus knew he succeeded with making the spell. He wasted no time and immediately started his onslaught of Keyblade strikes and **Sphere** 's. He luckily the last one right as the **Stopra** spell ended. Seeing that no more Heartless were appearing, he promptly fell on his rear, panting. 'I. Hate. Hydras,' he venomously thought.

* * *

Exiting the corridor, Tempus found himself on a half-sphere inside a bubble. On one side of the room there was a blue and yellow circle, while on the opposite side there was a dimly lit terminal. However, what stood out was the orb in the center of said room, above a small, circular, red trench. Two rings were surrounding the bubble outside, much like how electrons' rings surround a nucleus. There was also a small half-sphere platform in the distance, which also had a blue and yellow circle.

'So, this is the Mirage Arena, huh? Well, might as well get on with what I was going to do,' he thought to himself. He pulled a microchip out of his pocket and looked at it, remembering his second mission.

 _Flashback_

" _Wait a moment, Tempus."_

 _Turning around to face Master Eraqus, Tempus gave him a confused look while waiting for him to continue. "I have a second mission for you," he said while pulling out a microchip from who-knows-where. "I want you to go to a place called Mirage Arena, and install this device into the terminal there," he said while giving the microchip to Tempus, who pocketed it._

 _Nodding, Tempus said, 'Alright, sure. But why?" "I have a feeling that something terrible is going to happen soon, and I want everyone to be capable of facing whatever that is. That device, once installed, will allow battle simulations that you guys will partake in. This actually reminds me of something. You will need to go back and update it every once in a while. You will also need to test if the simulation works," Eraqus explained._

" _That sounds simple enough. Why did you choose me, though?" Tempus asked. 'Because you are the only one who would think this simple,' Eraqus did not voice this, but instead said, "You were the last one here." Tempus sweatdropped at the statement._

 _Flashback End_

'Last one my ass,' Tempus thought. Walking over to the terminal, Tempus inserted the microchip into it. Afterwards, he started to do a few keystrokes. 'There. Now to test to see if it works,' he thought.

Typing a few more things into the terminal, he saw there was only one option. 'Day of Reckoning, huh? Sounds pleasant,' he thought sarcastically. After selecting the match, he walked to under the glowing orb. He was then teleported to a transformed area of the hub, making it a much larger area. ( **A/N: Area where you fight the Iron Imprisoner's.** )

'What the…? Where am I?' Tempus thought to himself. Right after he thought that, five Floods and a Bruiser appeared in front of him. 'Are these Unversed? Well, they don't look friendly. Might as well get this over with,' he thought before going in to eliminate the Unversed.

After eliminating the group of Unversed, a new group appeared composing of six Scrappers and three Red Hot Chili's. Casting **Stopra** , Tempus took care if four of the Scrappers before time resumed. However, not realizing that, he didn't notice both a Scrapper and a Red Hot Chili attacking him. "Ahh!" he shouted while getting thrown forward. Recovering mid-air, he sent a small wave of Gray towards the two, destroying them and another Red Hot Chili as well. ( **A/N: His recovery attack.** )

'A normal **Cure** won't heal this. How about I try the thing I did to make **Stopra** earlier,' he thought before putting his plan to action. Making two **Cure** spells at once, he tried casting both at once. The result: an explosion destroying the remaining Unversed and sending Tempus flying back. 'Note to self, don't try melding new spells in combat,' he thought while balancing himself in the air before landing.

Drinking a potion, he felt some of his wounds beginning to heal, before narrowly ducking under a punch from a Bruiser. Looking at his surroundings, he saw two Floods, three Red Hot Chilis, and three Bruisers around the arena. Casting **Sphere** at a Flood, he ran up to the other Flood and slashed at it thrice, before it dissipated. Seeing that the other Flood wasn't there, he figured that his **Sphere** destroyed it.

After he finished off the other enemies, he found himself back to his starting location with two Red Hot Chilis and three Thornbites in front of him. 'I guess this is how every round starts. I believe that the terminal said this match was four rounds. I hope I don't have to fight any people here,' he thought.

Tempus cast a **Sphere** at a Red Hot Chili before slashing it once, destroying it. He then cast **Sphere** at the other Red Hot Chili, and afterwards bashed it to the ground, destroying it. He suddenly felt an energy similar to Gray coursing through his body and into his Keyblade. 'Is this one of those Command Styles Master Eraqus told us about?' he thought. 'Well, let's try it out.'

Dashing to a Thornbite, he started stabbing it three times, before doing a spinning attack on a horizontal axis, and finishing the combo by making a large black cube and a large white cube make a 360 orbit around him, destroying the Thornbite and a Thornbite behind him, leaving one left. Running up to the last Thornbite, he did a full combo, destroying it and a Bruiser that appeared behind him.

Feeling even more energy coursing through him, he made a large black circle and a large white circle on the ground. He jumped onto the black circle and sent out a shockwave, before jumping onto the white circle and doing the same. This destroyed all the Unversed and the next wave of Unversed as well.

After the next wave appeared, Tempus jumped into the air while the two circles merged into one gray circle. He then slammed down onto the circle, making a large explosion as he felt the energy leave him. 'That was awesome! I think I'll call that Command Style "Balanced Formula,"' he thought while panting.

After fighting the Unversed in round three, successfully melding two **Cure** spells into **Cura** , and developing a "healthy" hatred towards Archravens, we see him looking at the Iron Imprisoner. 'I'm screwed,' he thought.

The Iron Imprisoner went higher up in the air and shot six yellow beams onto the ground, before slowly floating towards Tempus. 'Something tells me I don't want to be hit by any of those things,' he thought before running away.

After the laser attack ended, Tempus ran up to it and cast **Stop** , freezing the Iron Imprisoner in time. He then jumped up and began slashing away at the Iron Imprisoner. He was suddenly knocked back by its cage(?). 'It should still be frozen in time! What happened?' he thought in shock before recovering himself and sending out a wave of Gray, only to be knocked back again.

Right as he landed, he was attacked multiple times by a spinning flame attack. After the Iron Imprisoner passed him, it turned around to try and attack him again. Tempus, seeing this, began to run in wide circles to avoid it. Right as he thought he was in the clear, the Iron Imprisoner jumped high into the air before slamming down, barely missing because of a well-timed roll from Tempus. It did so twice more before the flames around it dissipated.

Seeing the flame disappear, Tempus quickly cast **Cura** before running up to the Iron Imprisoner and attacking it. Right before it smacked Tempus away, he used its body as a springboard to backflip away while casting **Sphere** , staggering it. Seeing the opening, Tempus rushed in to continue his attack, only to be trapped in a cage.

'A cage? Really?' he thought while destroying the cage. Blocking the Iron Imprisoner's attempt to smack him, he ran up and delivered a combo in its face, destroying it. 'Finally,' he thought, panting.

* * *

Tempus found himself back in the hub, and he promptly fell back on to his rear. 'That was exhausting,' he thought to himself.

After resting for a few minutes, he got up and looked around quickly and saw a paper laying next to a holographic Moogle. 'What's this?' he thought. Picking up the paper, he saw it was titled _"G.T. Report II: The Element of Gray."_ Tempus began reading.

 _This report discusses the element of Gray, as well as writing down any of my own discoveries and theories about Gray._

 _Gray is an element that is created when Light and Darkness are perfectly in sync with one another. However, the two elements do not have to have equal amounts. If you look at a microscopic level, you will see Gray looks like a dissected DNA strand, with each side being either Light or Dark._

 _Because of the two elements working together so perfectly, it is near impossible to use one element separately. There are exceptions, however. When one has a masterful control of Gray, they can separate the element for a short period of time. But they must exert the same amount of power of the other element within a certain time frame. The frames differ between each individual, but the average is about five minutes. If this does not happen, the consequences would be equivalent to that of splitting an atom._

 _Controlling Gray can be both easy and difficult at the same time. First, you need a very creative mind, as Gray can take many forms. You must also keep in mind that, for many cases, you cannot just force the element to do what you want. You must guide the element into the form you wish, as many things you do with Gray changes it to the point where it can sometimes think on its own._

 _I have a theory on Gray pertaining to its uses. If Gray is just Light and Dark working together, and since in some instances you can use the two elements separately, is it possible to use opposite effects at once? Things such as healing allies while harming enemies? While I have not tested this theory, I do believe it can be done._

 _There are most likely more things that have yet to be discovered about Gray, and I doubt I'll find them all, so to whoever is reading this, I ask that you help out as well._

 _-G.T._

'This will be very useful in the future,' Tempus thought while storing the paper away. 'I wonder who G.T. is, though?'

Suddenly Tempus saw Terra being thrown back by a huge Unversed with instruments. Terra wasn't getting up as the Unversed closed in on him. Tempus's vision then went back to the hub. "Terra!" Tempus shouted in distress as he opened a G.C. and ran in.

* * *

 **New chapters will most likely not be out as fast as this one was, sorry.**

 **The G.T. Reports will be my version of the Ansem/Xehanort Reports. It will be how Tempus learns and develops his abilities.**

 **Original Moves:**

 **Sphere - The basic Gray spell. It is a gray orb that follows the target.**

 **Counter Wave - Recovers in mid-air and sends out a wave of Gray to counterattack.**

 **Please R and R. Constructive criticism is appreciated, but please, no flames.**


	5. Chapter 4: Time of Midnight

**Hey! Sorry for this being very late, but here is the next chapter. Still no reviews, which kinda sucks, because I want feedback on how much people like the story so far, and if they want me to add and/or change something. Meh. I digress. Enjoy the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, time travel would not have been as convoluted as KH:DDD. Alas, it is owned by Tetsuya Nomura.**

* * *

 _Chapter 4: Time of Midnight_

The G.C. opened in a clearing in the forest. Tempus came rushing out, and saw his surroundings. He was in a clearing that was surrounded by a forest, with a way out of the forest in front of him. In the distance you could see a castle. He also saw that it was in the middle of the night.

'Let's see. It looked like that vision was located in a ballroom of sorts. Ballrooms are usually in castles, so let's check that castle over there out,' Tempus thought before running to the castle.

Reaching the courtyard in front of the castle, Tempus stopped to catch his breath. After a minute he began to run again only to skid to a halt as a Bruiser appeared in front of him. Two more appeared behind him as well.

Groaning, he thought to himself, 'Great, these guys are wasting my time.' " **Stopra**!" he shouted. Seeing the Bruisers freeze in place, he ran past them. Going up the stairs of the castle, he looked back to see that the Bruisers disappeared. He then opened the doors of the castle and went in.

As he ran down the hallway of the castle, a barrier formed in front of the doors, effectively preventing him from proceeding. As Tempus thought of a way to get rid of the barrier, he heard Unversed appear behind him.. Sighing, he thought to himself, 'Guess I have no choice but to fight them.'

Summoning his Keyblade and getting into a fighting stance, he waited for the Unversed to make the first move. There were three Bruisers, two Scrappers, four Hareraisers, and two Red Hot Chilis. The Scrappers moved first, running in to attack.

Blocking the attacks, Tempus threw them back with his Keyblade and cast a **Sphere** towards one of them, destroying it. After, he ran to the other Scrapper and slashed at it a couple of times before it dissipated. " **Stopra**!" he shouted before dashing to the closest Hareraiser and hacking away at it. He then picked it up and threw it at a Red Hot Chili, destroying both.

Seeing the enemies move again, he jumped back to rest a little. The Unversed had different plans, however. One of the Bruisers began to bounce towards him while the single Red Hot Chili shot a fireball towards him. Using his Keyblade, Tempus redirected the fireball into the Bruiser bouncing towards him, knocking it onto two Hareraisers, destroying them due to the Bruisers weight. 'I can't believe that worked,' Tempus thought.

Casting a **Sphere** towards the downed Bruiser, Tempus ran and jumped up to destroy the remaining Red Hot Chili, also seeing his spell finish off the Bruiser.

Rushing towards the remaining two Hareraisers, Tempus went in between them and threw his Keyblade around him, making it orbit aroung him and hit each Hareraisers twice.

Seeing that all the Unversed were defeated, with the two Hareraisers going down due to the **Circle Raid** , Tempus turned back to the barrier on the door. Going into a thinking pose, he started thinking, 'How do I remove this barrier? They're Aqua's specialty, not mine. Let's see, the small bit I do know about them is that the World itself makes it due to a certain event that is or is about to happen. The way most commonly used to remove them is to play out the event. If the Unversed weren't that event, what was?' The sound of clapping snapped Tempus out of his thoughts.

Tempus turned around to see a masked figure in red. "Impressive. You took care of those guys without any problems. Mind teaching me those skills" the masked figure asked while summoning a Keyblade of his own and getting into a fighting stance, prompting Tempus to do the same.

"Who are you?" Tempus called out, extremely wary. "Does it matter? You'll be gone soon anyway," the masked figure responded. "Even so, it would be nice to know the name of the person that defeated me." "It's such a shame, then, that I'm-," Tempus spun around, hearing the voice behind him, and blocked the man's Keyblade. "-not a nice guy," the masked figure finished before pushing Tempus back with his Keyblade.

'So, he can make inanimate clones of himself and teleport behind you when he does. That alone makes him extremely dangerous. This guy is no amateur,' Tempus thought while preparing to fight the most dangerous enemy thus far.

The masked figure rushed Tempus and attacked. Tempus blocked the attacks the figure made and tried to counter, only for the figure to jump into the ground. Luckily, or unluckily depending on who you asked, there was a black and red shadow on the ground showing where he was.

Tempus decided not to see what would happen if the shadow got under him, and avoided the thing at all costs, jumping, running, and rolling out of the way. This turned out to be a good idea as eventually the masked jumped out of the shadow with a dozen fireballs following him. Tempus was able to dodge the initial attack, but he was hit by the shockwave that formed when the fireballs crashed into the ground.

"Ah!" Tempus yelled as he was thrown back by the shockwave. The figure used this to his advantage by creating an inanimate clone before teleporting behind Tempus and striking him to the ground. "This is all you got? I thought that since you were a Keyblade Master that you would be tough. You're pathetic," the masked figure said as he started walking towards Tempus. "I should just finish you off right now."

'This isn't good. I'm nearly dead and haven't even been able to land a blow on him. What's worse is that I'm about to black out,' Tempus thought as he watched the masked figure walk toward him. 'I only have one chance. This'll either send him flying or send everything, including us flying. But I have no choice.'

With that thought in mind, Tempus began casting **Sphere** , and then cast **Sphere** inside the first **Sphere** , before weakly saying, " **Sphera**." He got the desired effect, sending the figure back as it made a small explosion upon impact.

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha! Are you proud that you hit me? It won't change a thing," the masked figure said while getting up, his voice turning deadly serious near the end. It was at this point that Tempus lost consciousness. "You blacking out makes this next part easier," the masked figure said before being knocked back. When he got on his feet he saw Tempus glaring at him. But it wasn't his normal eyes. His irises were slightly glowing gray and there were silhouettes of clocks in them. "That's new," the figure said, grinning behind his mask.

* * *

 _Later_

"Ugh, what happened?" Tempus asked to no one in particular, coming to. Looking around, he saw the masked figure lying on the ground.

'I have no idea how he got knocked out, but at the moment I don't care. I need to get out of here before he wakes up,' he thought while looking at the masked man after picking himself off the ground. After another moment of staring at him, Tempus limped to the doors and went through them. 'At least the barrier is down.'

As soon as the doors closed, another figure came from behind a pillar. "It seems as though Vanitas went too hard on him," the figure said while looking at Vanitas, who was regaining consciousness. "The end there was quite unexpected, thought. It seems he has lost his memories as well, or else Vanitas would have been six feet under already. Still, this gave me enough information. Vanitas! We're leaving!"

* * *

 _With Tempus_

'I need to sit down,' Tempus thought as he observed his surroundings. 'What happened while I was out, though? I could have sworn that he would kill me. Could someone have stepped in and helped? But then, that begs the question of who helped, and why?' he thought while sitting down on the nearby stairs. **(A/N: He is in the room before the ballroom. (Foyer))**

Shaking his head, he focused himself on his injuries. 'It doesn't matter right now. What's most important is healing myself and finding Terra,' he thought. He was hoping that he wasn't too late. 'There are too many injuries for even **Cura** to heal. This will be risky, but I don't have any other alternative at the moment. I'm going to need to meld my healing spells and hope for the best.'

Tempus began melding **Cura** with **Cure** , but was quickly tiring due to his low energy from his last fight. However, the spell finished and Tempus cast **Curaga** on himself. 'Good. It worked,' he thought, idly noticing three women walk by him. He quickly noticed that they were giving off negative emotions in waves. 'That can't be good,' he thought before finally passing out from lack of energy.

 _A little while later_

"Wake up!" a man said while shaking Tempus. "Wha-?" Tempus said, waking up. Opening his eyes, he saw a man in blue with facial hair looking at him. "What do you want?" Tempus asked. "You must get up and leave! There is a giant monster in the ballroom. Leave while the monster is still occupied by the man who stayed behind," he said quickly. "Man who stayed behi-Terra!" Tempus shouted, bolting straight up. "Where is the ballroom?" he quickly asked the man. "Up there," the man replied, pointing up the stairs. Tempus nodded in thanks before running up the stairs.

"Wait! That is the wrong way!" the man shouted. Tempus stopped and turns to him, confused. "What do you mean? You said this was the way to the ballroom, right?" The man nodded. "Yes, but the exit is the other way." Sighing, Tempus replied, "Look mister, I can handle myself. You focus on getting anyone else out of here." "Who are you calling 'Mister'? I'll have you know that I am the duke." "I wouldn't care if you were a king right now. Now get going!" Tempus said, ending the argument and running towards the ballroom.

When he reached the ballroom he saw Terra and a huge Unversed surrounded by a trumpet, drum, and violin. Rushing in, he got about halfway there before seeing the two were in the same position as when he saw the vision. "No!" Tempus yelled while casting **Sphera** at the Symphony Master.

Terra, upon hearing someone shout "No" and seeing a gray orb make a small explosion upon impact, looked to see Tempus running towards him. "Tempus!" he shouted. Tempus finally reached him, and after regaining his breath, spoke, "Good. I made it in time." "What do you mean? Actually, never mind. What are you doing here?" Terra asked. "Vision of-" Tempus pointed at the Symphony Master, "Mister Wannabe-musician." Terra nodded his head in understanding.

"Alright. Since you're here, you can help. It uses its instruments to distract you while it itself attacks once you're distracted," Terra explained. "Right. So that just means that one of us needs to occupy the instruments while the other attacks the actual enemy," Tempus said while in a thinking pose. After a nod from Terra, he spoke again, "I'll take the instruments, and you take the big one." With that said, they both broke apart to fight their respective enemies.

Tempus began with firing three **Sphere** 's at the instruments to get their attention, before blocking the drum that charged at him, pushing him back. Tempus knocked the drum back before casting **Sphere** at it and charging towards the trumpet. However, right when he reached the trumpet, it blasted him back with sound waves. As he regained his balance, the instruments decided to charge him at the same time, something Tempus noticed.

"Give me a break," he muttered to himself while leaping out of the way. After dodging the tri-attack, he ran to the closest instrument, which was the violin, and began attacking it. He was soon interrupted, though, by having to dodge the drum, which had charged him again. Figuring that the drum would give him the most problems, he switched his focus to it, firing a **Sphera** before going in to finish it. However, it was unnecessary due to the spell finishing it off.

'One down,' he thought. "Whoa!" Terra shouted. "Oi, Tempus! What did you do? Out of nowhere this guy got angry!" he asked/shouted while sliding away from a baton strike. "It was probably due to me destroying one of its instruments!" Tempus shouted back while firing a **Sphera** at the violin, which was closing in on him.

"That's it! Tempus, we're switching! I cannot keep dodging this thing forever!" Terra shouted.

* * *

In the future, Terra, Aqua, and Ven all sneezed right before facing the Mysterious Figure.

* * *

"Fine!" Tempus shouted back. He grabbed the trumpet out of the air and threw it at the violin, stunning both.

Terra meanwhile used **Stun Edge** to stun the Symphony Master. He then ran towards the instruments while Tempus ran to the actual enemy. Upon reaching the instruments, Terra used **Poison Edge** on the violin, poisoning it as well. He then used **Sliding Dash** to dodge the sound waves from the trumpet. After dodging the attack, he cast **Fire** on it before running towards it and attacking with his Keyblade, destroying the trumpet.

As Terra destroyed the trumpet, Tempus jumped out of the way as the S.M. slammed the ground in anger. After which it threw its baton at Tempus. However, halfway in its flight that baton separated into multiple smaller ones. Tempus brought his Keyblade front of him and began to block the baton-shurikens, but he got nicked by them a couple of times. The S.M. calmed down after getting its baton back.

After defending the attacks, Tempus went on the offensive, firing **Sphera** at it while running towards it. After the spell exploded in its face, Tempus began attacking it while it was blinded. It eventually regained its bearings, but it had still taken a significant amount of damage.

The S.M. began elongating its baton, and threw it at Tempus. 'I wonder,' Tempus thought before catching the baton, used the momentum to spin, and threw it back at the S.M. even harder than what it threw. The baton hit the S.M., puncturing where its heart would be. 'It worked,' Tempus thought while he watched the S.M. dissipate. After seeing that it wouldn't come back, he turned to Terra, who had just finished off the violin, and ran towards him.

"We beat it," Tempus said, smiling. De-summoning his Keyblade, Terra turned to face Tempus and said, "Yeah, we did. Although, I could've beaten it myself." "So says the person who said, and I quote, 'That's it! Tempus, we're switching! I cannot keep dodging this thing forever!' It sounded to me that you were struggling quite a bit," Tempus replied smoothly. "I wouldn't have needed to dodge that much if you hadn't angered it. That's all on you," Terra said while looking to see if there were any more threats. Tempus shrugged. "It doesn't matter. We beat it, and that's all that we need to know."

After talking for a few minutes, Tempus began to leave while saying, "It was nice talking with you, Terra, but we both have things to do. Later!" After waving "bye," he headed for the exit. 'Since I'm already here, I might as well explore the place,' Tempus thought while walking through the castle.

* * *

Upon exiting the castle and walking down the stairs, Tempus was ambushed by a small group of Unversed. It consisted of two Floods, two Red Hot Chilis, and a Bruiser.

'Why me?' Tempus mentally pouted to himself. Summoning Time of Dusk, he immediately stabbed a Flood while kicking the other one away. With the first Flood still impaled on his Keyblade, he picked it up and brought it between himself and a fireball, courtesy of a Red Hot Chili. The fireball hit the Flood, killing it, but the force of the attack caused Tempus to skid back a foot.

'What the-are they getting stronger? That fireball was stronger than usual, but looked the exact same,' Tempus thought to himself. Shrugging it off, he fired **Sphera** at the Red Hot Chili that attacked him before casting **Stopra** , freezing all enemies except the other Flood, who was in the second dimension. (In the ground) He then went in to finish off the Red Hot Chili. After finishing it off, he fired two **Sphere** 's, one at the unfrozen Flood, who was now in the third dimension again, and the other Red Hot Chili.

Deciding to go after the Red Hot Chili, he closed in on it before getting an idea. 'If that thing is fire-based, then is should be weak to water, and there is a huge pond tight next to us.' With that in mind, he ran to the pond, with Red Hot Chili in his arm. Once he reached it, he lifted the lid on the Red Hot Chili and used it like a bucket. After filling it with water, he put the lid back on and threw it away from him.

Time unfroze, and the first thing Tempus noticed was the Red Hot Chili shaking uncontrollably, before shining brighter and brighter. Putting two and two together, Tempus began running away. A couple seconds later, and the enemy blew up, creating an explosion 20 feet in diameter in all directions. "Oh sh-" Tempus shouted before jumping into the pond. When the explosion faded, all that was left was a small crater. "Note to self: Never fill those fire shooting pots with water. Ever."

Getting out of the pond, Tempus shook the water off of him while heading out of the courtyard. Outside of the courtyard was a path leading into a forest. 'Guess there's no other option,' Tempus thought before heading down the path.

After a while, Tempus found a clearing in the forest. Looking around, he – "Help!" someone yelled. Tempus turned to where the voice came from and saw a blonde woman getting attacked by some Floods. Rushing over, he jumped in between the woman and a Flood what was about to jump her.

Knocking the Flood away, he fired a **Sphera** , destroying it. He then cast **Stopra** before attacking the closest Flood, and after used it as a kickboard to slash right through a nearby Flood, making both dissipate. He ran to the final Flood, and began attacking it, and time unfroze right as he dealt the last blow.

De-summoning his Keyblade, Tempus turned to the woman. "Are you alright?" The woman nodded. "Yes, thanks to you. Thank you for saving me. I'm Cinderella." "I'm Tempus, and you don't have to thank me. What are you doing out here alone, though? It's dangerous." "I was just heading home, when those things attacked me out of the blue," Cinderella said. Tempus nodded in understanding. "Alright, let me take you there, then. You never know when more Unversed could show up," Tempus said. "Alright," Cinderella agreed while nodding.

* * *

Cinderella and Tempus were walking through the woods, the latter killing the occasional Unversed, when Cinderella spoke up. "Tempus do you have any dreams?" she asked. "What do you mean?" Tempus asked. "Do you have any dreams that you would do anything to fulfill?" Tempus stopped and thought for a minute before replying, softly, "Yeah, I have one, but it's not something that will ever be finished." "What is it?" Cinderella asked. Tempus smiled while closing his eyes. "To protect my friends."

After saying that, the two started walking again before reaching a mansion. "We're here!" Cinderella said, smiling while clapping once. "Are we? I should get going then. I have things to do," Tempus said. "Ok. Goodbye," Cinderella said. She then entered the mansion.

Tempus turned to leave, however, something caught his eye. It was a small armor on a waveboard. Tempus squinted his eyes. 'Is that… Ven? Why in earth is he so small?! Well, since there's not much left to do here, I'll just go where he's going,' he thought before opening a G.C. and stepping through.

* * *

 **Original Moves:**

 **Sphere - The basic basic Gray spell. It is a gray orb that follows the target.**

 **Sphera - The second tier in the Sphere series of spells, much like the second tier of Fire; Fira. Sphera upon impact makes a small explosion.**

 **I know that the fight with Vanitas was short and ended in one hit. However, in the game, when you first fight him, he holds back, and even then he is supposed to be tough to beat (Though I have no problems with anyone except Lingering Spirit, Mysterious Figure, and Terranort using Terra.) Tempus just is not at the level to pose a threat against Vanitas yet, since Vanitas is much stronger than any of the four at the moment. Eventually, Tempus will actually be overpowered, which I know not everyone will like, but that isn't until near the end of this story. Until then, Tempus will be gradually gaining strength.**

 **Also, you may have noticed, Tempus fights a bit dirty. I will only say this; he is usually outnumbered 10 to 1 and is not strong enough yet to just physically deal with them yet.**

 **The part about the Unversed getting stronger is actually justified. Remember that when you defeat an Unversed, it goes back to Vanitas, who is presumably still getting stronger, hence the Unversed get stronger when he sends them back out again.**

 **Anyways, please R and R. Constructive criticism is appreciated, but please, no flames.**


	6. Chapter 5: Time of Fairies and Witches

**Yo! I seem to keep posting chapters in pairs, hehe. Enjoy the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is owned by the guy who knows how to make one of the most complicated stories in games, and always finds a way to surprise you, Tetsuya Nomura. Also, I just realized. I believe that I actually own the concept of Gray magic and how it works. If not, someone please tell me and give me a source.**

* * *

 _Chapter 5: Time of Fairies and Witches_

Exiting the G.C., Tempus found himself at the foot a mountain path, which led to a castle. 'Man, this place is gloomy. I'd hate to live here,' he thought. Shaking his head, he went up the path..

Upon entering the courtyard of the castle, he saw Ven with three women. One was garbed in red, one in blue, and the last in green. "Hey Ven!" Tempus shouted while running up to him. Ven turned around to see Tempus. Once Tempus caught up, Ven said, "Hi, Tempus. What're you doin' here?" "I had nothing to do, so I followed after you. That reminds me, how and why were you so small?" Tempus asked.

Ven looked confused for a minute before a look of realization formed on his face. "Oh, that. Well, you see, I was like that the moment I got there, and I don't know how or why it was done. Sorry, hehe," Ven said, scratching the back of his head. "I guess it doesn't matter," Tempus said, shrugging. "So, why are you here in such a gloomy castle, and who are these three?" "Well, this is-uh… erm, I never actually got your names," Ven said, embarrassed. Tempus facepalmed, muttering quietly, "Really, Ven?"

The woman in red glided forward. "Well dears, this is Fauna," gesturing to the woman in green, who waved in reply, "This is Merryweather," the woman in blue said "Hello" upon hearing her name being said, "and my name is Flora. We're fairies," the now named Flora said. "It's nice to meet you three, I'm Tempus. So, why are you guys here?" Tempus asked.

Fauna glided forward to answer. "We're here because the mean witch, Maleficent, stole Aurora's heart. We're here to get it back," she said. Tempus went from slightly laid back to serious upon hearing this. "Any idea why this Maleficent would want her heart?" he asked. Merryweather was the one who answered this time. "We don't know, but I believe it has something to do with her heart being untouched by Darkness," she said. Ven and Tempus' eyes bulged at this. "A princess of heart?!" Ven shouted, before finally turning serious as well. Tempus turned to Ven. "Ven, this is a lot more dire than we first thought. We're getting that heart back at all costs," he said, vooice deadly serious. Ven nodded. "Let's go," Ven said. They all began to run (or glide) as soon as he said that.

About halfway through the courtyard, the group encountered a group of Unversed, consisting of three Scrappers, a Bruiser, two Red Hot Chilis, and two Blue Sea Salts. Tempus instantly fired a **Sphera** at a Red Hot Chili, destoying it, and cast **Stopra**. Ven, who was slightly behind, caught up and used **Aerora** on the stopped enemies. After, he focused slightly before launching off a salvo of fireballs toward all of the Unversed, destroying all but the Bruiser and Red Hot Chili.

Right then time unfroze , however, right before either Unversed could recover, Tempus came up behind the Bruiser and used his Keyblade to finish it off, while Ven shot a **Blizzara** at the Red Hot Chili. They then took off to the entrance of the castle after their brutally efficient battle.

Upon reaching the entrance, Tempus stopped them. "Wait. We are going into unknown enemy territory. We need to be prepared. Flora, does Maleficent have minions of any kind?" Tempus asked. The red fairy thought for a second before replying, "I'm not sure, but it wouldn't be too surprising if she did." Tempus nodded. "Alright, we will assume that she does. Is everyone ready?" he asked. Everyone nodded. "Then let's go."

* * *

Entering a round room with a throne, the group saw a couple of pig-like trolls, armed with either a bow or an ax. "Careful, they're Maleficent's," Flora said, "Well, they ain't guardin' nothing," Ven said before rushing in. Tempus sighed. "So much for stealth," he said before walking after Ven.

One of the henchmen was yawning, tired of standing guard. "Ten-shun!" Ven shouted, snapping the henchman awake and fumbling with its weapon. "No sleeping on the job," Ven finished while preparing to fight them. Right as he and the henchmen were about to attack each other, the henchmen froze in place and got hit by two **Sphere** 's before bursting into green flames.

Ven turned around to see Tempus walking towards him. "Ven, we were supposed to stay hidden," Tempus reprimanded. This made Ven confused, which showed on his face. "Why?" As soon as he asked this, dozens of henchmen charged into the room with weapons drawn. "That's why," Tempus answered, summoning his Keyblade.

Sidestepping an arrow, Tempus charged to the nearest group of enemies. He swung his Keyblade and, once hitting them, they burst into green flames. Tempus looked around to see Ven in Fever Pitch, which he activated after getting swarmed by the henchmen. He was going from one enemy to the next extremely fast, hitting each one once or twice before they burst into flames. He was already at the enemy when that happened, though.

Tempus turned his attention back to the enemies that were currently trying to surround him. Quickly formulating a plan, Tempus stabbed his Keyblade into the ground. " **Gray Chain**!" he shouted. Suddenly, a gray chain spout from behind one of the henchmen and wrapped around it, sealing his movement. The chain then picked it up and used it as a flail, successfully destroying it and the others, making about a third of the henchmen surrounding Tempus burst into flames.

After the chain went back into the ground, Tempus saw about twice as many henchmen appear fill the place of the ones he just destroyed. Looking around, he found Ven was worse for wear, slowly beginning to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of henchmen. 'This doesn't look good. We're going to have to retreat, but how?' Tempus thought as he dodged and countered the henchmen. 'I could use **Stopra** to freeze them, but I don't think it will be long enough for us to escape. No choice then.' With that thought, he melded **Stop** and **Stopra** together, and shouted, " **Stopga**!" He didn't see the speckles of red, green, and blue light as he cast said spell.

Ven was starting to lose steam as the henchmen kept coming. His Fever Pitch had run out awhile ago, and at first he was doing fine, but there were just too many. Rolling away from another ax swing, Ven heard Tempus shout something before all the enemies froze in place. "C'mon! Let's get out of here while we still can!" Tempus shouted before running through a corridor. Ven and the fairies followed suit.

* * *

The group of five ran out of the corridor into a gigantic room. "I… _huff_ … think we're… _huff_ … good… _huff_ … for now," Tempus wheezed out before falling to the ground in exhaustion. Ven followed not two seconds later.

After resting for a few minutes, Tempus sat up and looked around. Almost immediately he saw a floating orb glimmering with Light on the other side of the room."Is that what… _huff_ … we came here for?" Tempus asked while pointing towards the orb, as well as catching his breath.

Fauna looked to where he was pointing to and nodded. "Yes, that is her heart," she said. "Well what're we waiting for, let's go over and free it," Ven said, standing up as fast as a bullet. "I mean, it's right there. It'll be easy," he continued. "Hang on, Ven," Tempus said while standing up as well. "You're right, it is easy. Too easy. Something else must be in-between us and it."

Merryweather floated to the two. "It is as you say. I sense that there are invisible walls in this room. However, I can also sense that there are portals scattered throughout the area in pairs. We might be able to use them," she explained. "Well, let's get goin', then," Ven said eagerly. "Hang on," Flora said. She then looked directly at Tempus. "You should work on that spell that you used to stop all the enemies in place. It would have backfired had we not intervened," she scolded, and the other two fairies nodded. "Sorry. I ran out of options and we needed to get out of there," Tempus replied while rubbing the back of his head. "Just be more careful, dear," Fauna said. Tempus only nodded in reply.

With everything that needed to be said out of the way, the five headed toward the nearest portal, which was blue. True to what Merryweather said, walls sprouted up from the ground when the five got too close to said wall. Once they reached the blue portal, Flora swung her wand once, and the group was transported to the other blue portal, where walls appeared behind them.

"Where to?" Tempus asked Merryweather. "Let's head to the closest one, the one changing colors," she replied. However, once they got close, a wall appeared between and it, barring them from reaching it. Tempus gave a questioning glance to Merryweather. It was Fauna who spoke, though. "I suggest we just follow the walls." With no better alternative, the group did just that.

They encountered an orange portal just a ten-second walk away. Using the portal, they were tranported to the portal's copy, and walls appeared instantly. Walking forward a few steps, Tempus quickly realized their only option was going through the corridor nearby. "Over here," he said while going through the corridor.

They eventually reached a hallway with two henchmen in it. "We need to take them out quickly before they can call for others," Tempus whispered to Ven, who nodded. "Here's the plan. I'll cast **Stopra** and take the one on the right, while you take the left, got it?" Ven nodded once again. "Got it."

"On three. One. Two. Three. **Stopra**!" Tempus yelled quietly before rushing to the henchman on the right. He quickly eliminated it as Ven took out the other one, and both henchmen burst into flames. Seeing that nothing else happened, they both stopped holding their breath, though they didn't realize they were holding it in the first place. "That went better then last time," Tempus said, glancing at Ven. Ven saw this and blushed while rubbing the back of his head.

Walking(or floating) out of the hallway, they saw the room had three exits, and a numerous amount of guards. "So, which way?" Ven asked. "Let's head straight. Any objections?" Tempus asked. Everyone shook their heads 'no' in reply. "There's just one problem, the guards," Flora said. "I have an idea for that," Tempus responded. " **Sphere**!" Tempus aimed the spell down the spiral path, and once it impacted the wall all of the henchmen ran to it. "Come on. Let's get out of here while they are distracted," Tempus whispered while jumping down and running across the room, with everyone following.

The side of the room they ran to had another corridor, which they quickly went through. Once through they found themselves back in the "maze" again. "There's that color changing portal," Ven said, while pointing to said portal. "Before we trigger any more walls, let's observe the portals for the best outcome," Tempus said. Everyone nodded and did so. After a while, Flora spoke. "I think we should take the portal when it is yellow, so we can take the red portal, as the red portal's pair is directly in front of the heart."

Following the fairy's plan, they waited for the portal to turn yellow, before using it. They were transported to its pair and they saw that the red portal was a little ahead of them. Going towards the red portal, they were relieved that no wall obstructed their path, and activated the portal. It took them directly in front of the heart.

Approaching the heart, Ven raised his Kyeblade, and a beam of Light shot out and doused the green flames acting as a cage. The hear immediately flew out. "That should do it," Ven said, and everyone nodded in reply. However, right as Ven walked back towards them, a white light flashed through everyone's eyes, and suddenly they saw Aurora and a man talk before everything went white again, and they were back in reality.

Opening his eyes, Ven asked, "What was that?" "Aurora's memory. She must have gotten her heart back," Flora answered while the three fariries came forward "So her dream came true!" Ven exclaimed. "So it seems," Tempus said. "Yes, not long ago," Flora began again. "Dreams are very strong beliefs. Aurora's led her to her true love."

"I see you both hold strong beliefs too. Don't you dears?" Fauna asked. Both Ven and Tempus nodded. "Yup./ Mm," they said, respectively. "You also have strong Light, while you have something euqally as strong, but I can tell its not evil," Flora said first to Ven, then to Tempus.

Merryweather then spoke up. "All right. Hurry, we can't stay hear!" she said, a little frantic. Everyone nodded and walked back to the portal. Backtracking to te entrance, Tempus stopped everyone before they left the room. "Wait," he said. Seeing everyone stop, he continued. "I have a bad feeling. Is everyone prepared?" he asked. Everyone nodded. "Just making sure. Let's go."

* * *

Entering the throne room, they suddenly stopped as they saw a horned woman standing in the center of the room. She was wearing a black and purple garb, and was holding a staff with a green orb. "Someone has released Aurora's heart. Tell me, was it either of you who did it? The woman asked as she turned to face them.

"Maleficent!" Flora said venomously. "Only 'cause you stole it in the first place!" Ven answered, preparing to fight. Tempus also prepared himself. Ven rushed to attack, however right as he brought his Keyblade down, Maleficent disappeared in green flames. Tempus also ran out to join Ven.

"A Keyblade… You must be Ventus. And you must be Tempus," Maleficent said from atop the stairs. Both Ven and Tempus narrowed their eyes at her words. "Huh? How do you know about us… and the Keyblade?" Ven questioned. Tempus just kept his eyes narrowed at the witch.

Grinning, Maleficent replied. "My powers ensure I'd know of the key to bringing me hearts. Terra gave me a demonstration." "Terra?" Ven asked. Tempus's eyes widened in shock, realizing the implications, before narrowing dangerously. "He was here?" Ven asked. "Why, yes. In fact, it was he who stole Princess Aurora's heart," Maleficent replied. Ven shook his head. "That's a lie," he shouted angrily. Tempus was still silent. 'I see. She used Terra's Darkness as a string for a puppet,' he thought. "I was asked to leave you unharmed… but it seems I have no choice!" Maleficent shouted and gathered her power.

Realizing something, Tempus shouted to Ven. "You take care of her! I'll make sure you aren't interrupted by reinforcements! Make sure you escape when you can!" With that, Tempus began to head back to the giant room. "What about you?" Ven yelled. "I'll be fine. I'll use my G.C. to escape when I think the coast is clear!" Tempus responded before leaving the room.

Re-entering the big room, Tempus saw henchmen fighting Unversed. 'It seems the walls are gone,' he idly thought. He then noticed something that was in the air. It had wings and the Unversed insignia on it. Archravens. 'Must kill them quickly,' he thought monotonely. Raising his Keyblade in the air, he yelled, " **Stopga**!" He then cast an overcharged **Sphera** at one of the Archravens, however, since it was an unstable spell, it exploded before it reached it. It did its job, though, as the explosion destroyed it and a bunch of henchmen and other Unversed around it.

Walking toward a group of Archravens, he casually destroyed henchmen and Unversed as he approached them. Once he reached them, he used **Gray Chain** to wrap around one of the Archravens, and used it as a flail against the others. Time finally unfroze just as the final Archraven was killed, before Tempus cast a **Sphere** to finish off the bound Archraven.

Shaking his head, Tempus came back to reality after all the Archravens were gone. 'I must not let what just happened reach anyone's ears,' he thought while sidestepping a Scrapper. Said Scrapper was then thrown into a Flood, destroying both.

Turning around, Tempus blocked a punch from a Bruiser before pushing it back. He then cast **Sphera** at it before closing in and finishing it off with his Keyblade. It was that moment that Tempus activated his Command Style, Balanced Formula.

Feeling the familiar energy running through him, he grinned and rushed towards the nearest enemy, a Red Hot Chili, and stabbed it three times in rapid succession, destroying it. He then spun on a horizontal axis before making two large cubes, one black and the other white, orbit around him, destroying a nearby Bruiser and more henchmen.

Looking around, he saw that the only enemies left were the henchmen and a group of Floods. However, the Floods began to move not to Tempus, but to each other. Soon more Floods appeared to join the group, where the Floods were beginning to merge with each other. More and more appeared and with it until all that was left was a 20 meter tall Flood.

'Murphy, I _will_ find you, and I will take you damn law and enforce it on you ten-fold,' Tempus thought bitterly while slowly backing up, trying to make some distance between it and him. The henchmen weren't idle, either. As soon as they saw the Giant Flood, they ran away, leaving Tempus alone with it. 'That takes care of one threat, at least,' he thought.

After a minute of just staring at each other, they finally- no, actually, they just continued to stare at each other. 'Maybe its friendly,' Tempus thought. As soon as he though that, the Giant Flood leaped at him. Rolling out of the way, he looked back to see a small crater. 'So I've learned two vital things. One, it is _not_ friendly, and two, don't ever get hit.'

Firing a **Sphera** at the Giant Flood, he made a wide berth to try and get behind it. When the spell hit, it flinched, giving Tempus enough time to finally get behind it. " **Stopra**!" he shouted, making the huge Unversed freeze. Seeing this, Tempus began to hack away at it until it unfroze. He jumped far back as soon as he saw movement, while also firing a quick **Sphere** for coverage.

After looking around, the Giant Flood spotted Tempus, before dropping a dimension. 'So that's why its called a Flood. If big enough, it actually looks like a flood,' Tempus thought while watching as the 2D Unversed moved towards him.

When it finally jumped back into 3D, it brought with it a dozen Floods. "Come on! A giant version of you is enough!" Tempus shouted to the Unversed. Hearing him, all of the Floods, including the giant one, ran towards him.

Casting two **Sphere** 's, one for two of the the smaller Floods, he ran towards the stampede, but shifted to the side. Sticking his Keyblade out to the side, he mowed down three of the Unversed, bringing the enemy count down to seven Floods and one Giant Flood.

After stopping his charge, he turned around to observe his current situation. 'The big one is definitely the most problematic, however I probably won't be able to get to it with the smaller ones, so that leaves one option,' he though. " **Gray Chain**!" he shouted with his Keyblade in the floor. Gray chains then sprouted from around the Giant Flood and binded it. Pulling his Keyblade out of the floor, Tempus thought, 'Now, time to deal with the small fry.'

Firing a **Sphera** at a group of four Floods, he ran in. The spell made a small explosion upon impact, destroying the Flood that was hit and knocking two others on their backs. The last one had sunk into the ground before the spell reached them. Seeing all this, Tempus made his target the now group of three. Getting in close, he yelled, " **Stop**!" to freeze the three Floods, the last of which had already come back up.

Finishing them off, Tempus looked to see the chains disappear from the Giant Flood, and that there was still three normal Floods left. 'This is more managable,' he thought. He began to run to the remaining enemies, casting a **Sphere** at a Flood in the process. When he got close enough, he slid into the Flood, destroying it, before doing a 720, effectively destroying another Flood, which brought the enemies down to one Flood and one Giant Flood. 'I think I'll call that maneuver the ' **Sliding Vortex** ,' he thought, panting as he was getting tired.

Raising his Keyblade towards the remaining small Flood, he shouted, " **Sphera**!" The orb of Gray went toward its target before making a small explosion upon impact. This resulted in Tempus being alone with the Giant Flood. 'Too bad healing spells don't recover stamina,' Tempus thought while slightly panting.

After a moment's reprieve, Tempus stabbed his Keyblade into the ground. " **Gray Chain**!" Said spell then made a chain behind the Giant Flood and wrapped around it. Seeing this, he took his Keyblade and rushed in to take advantage of his opportunity.

Reaching the Giant Flood, he began to hack away at the still-bound Unversed. "How ' _hack_ ' long ' _slash_ ' does it ' _stab_ ' take ' _slice_ ' to kill you," Tempus yelled while swinging his Keyblade. "That's it! I've had enough of this!" Tempus shouted. Stabbing his Keyblade into the Giant Flood, he yelled, " **Sphera**!" As soon as the spell was cast, it made a small explosion, making a one meter sized hole in the Unversed, which started to dissipate.

Tempus however, was blown back from the explosion. Getting to his feet, he saw the Giant Flood disappearing. "Finally," he said to himself. He sat down to rest after casting **Cura** on himself.

About ten minutes later, he stood up. 'Well, since I have nothing else to do here, I might as well go check the arena." With that thought, he opened a G.C. and stepped through.

* * *

 **Original Moves:**

 **Sphere - The basic Gray spell. It is a gray orb that follows the target.**

 **Sphera - The second tier in the Sphere series of spells, much like the second tier of Fire; Fira. Sphera upon impact makes a small explosion.**

 **Gray Chain - A Gray spell that spouts gray chains from the ground to damage and bind a target. It can be used to pick smaller enemies up and move them, as well as being used on self to move one's self.**

 **Sliding Vortex - It is a Sliding Dash with a 720 spin at the end.**

 **Well guys, that was chapter 5. You guys think I should start making omakes at the end of some of the chapters? Don't forget, if you have a new spell/ability to tell me, I'll consider using it. You have to give the name and description of it for me to consider it though.**

 **By the way, what did you guys think of the Giant Flood? I think it was a good idea, and want to make more new Unversed. Give me some suggestions.**

 **Don't forget to R and R. Constructive criticism is appreciated, but please, no flames.**


End file.
